Wednesday, 7 September 2016

Strike three for HAL: After success of Dhruv and LCH, new light helicopter makes inaugural flight

Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 7th Sept 16

On Tuesday, nine months after Prime
Minister Narendra Modi laid a foundation stone at Tumakuru for Hindustan
Aeronautics Ltd’s (HAL’s) new helicopter manufacturing complex, the helicopter
that will be built there made its inaugural flight.

HAL announced today: “Achieving yet another
significant milestone, HAL conducted a technical flight of indigenous Light
Utility Helicopter (LUH) in Bengaluru, today. The helicopter lifted [off] at
1210 hours (12.10 p.m.) and was in the air for 15 minutes at HAL facilities.”

The LUH will replace the military’s
obsolescent fleet of Chetak and Cheetah helicopters that have flown, in many
cases, for over three decades. The defence ministry is following a dual track
--- HAL is designing, developing and building 187 LUHs, while
importing-cum-building 197 Kamov-226T light helicopters with technology
transferred from Russia.

HAL’s today stated: “Apart from replacement
of ageing fleet of Cheetah/Chetak, LUH is expected to capture a sizeable share
both in domestic and international market.”

In the test, which HAL described as “flawless”,
veteran test pilots, Wing Commanders Unni Pillai and Anil Bhambari, got
airborne and carried out a few basic turns and manoeuvres. Helicopter testing
is unforgiving, since pilots have no way of bailing out of a chopper that loses
control.

Veteran test pilots like Pillai are part of
an experienced HAL helicopter division that has already masterminded two
successful indigenous programmes --- the Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)
that is serving the army in large numbers; and the Light Combat Helicopter
(LCH) that is undergoing flight-testing before being inducted into the army and
air force.

HAL intends to speed up flight-testing of
the LUH by distributing flight-testing over three prototypes. It hopes to
obtain initial operational certification by end-2017.

Limited Series Production will be done in
Bengaluru, and the 610-acre Tumakuru unit is slated to commence series
production in 2018-19. The defence ministry told Parliament in a statement on
July 29: “The initial investment for the [Tumakuru] project could be of the
order of Rs 2000 crore.”

According to HAL’s internal manufacturing
targets, the Tumakuru plant will ship about 30 LUHs annually, starting in
2019-20. In Phase II, which will take another 3-4 years, production will be
ramped up to 60 helicopters per year.

HAL today described the LUH as a light,
single-engine helicopter that is powered by the Safran HE Ardiden-1U engine. In
addition to two pilots, the helicopter can fly six passengers at sea level,
with load capacity reducing with altitude. HAL says the LUH’s engine, which
delivers 750 KiloWatts of power, permits flight operations as high as 6,500
metres (21,325 feet). That would allow it to fly to India’s highest posts in
the Siachen Glacier sector.

HAL says the LUH has an “all-up weight” of
3,150 kilogrammes, which places it in the 3-tonne class. Its operating range of
350 kilometres allows it to carry out various roles, including reconnaissance,
transport, cargo load and high-altitude rescue operations.

The twin-engine Dhruv ALH, which is a
5-tonne class helicopter, was initially sold by HAL to the military for about
Rs 40 crore ($6 million); but the current order is likely to be priced at Rs 65-70
crore ($10 million). By that yardstick, industry analysts estimate the smaller LUH
would be delivered at about Rs 40 crore per piece; and the 200-helicopter order
would be worth about Rs 8,000 crore.

the dhruv cannot be called complete success as in 15 yrs just about 150 made it into our armed forces, lch has missed several deadlines and it has not even achieved ioc, so still few years away from foc. hence your statement that next year luh will get ioc is just not happening. we have no choice now but to quietly suffer the delays of hal and live with it.

1. Will this be used as a Light Observation Helicopter by Army Aviation Scout/command elements as well or is there another product in the pipeline ? If the response is former, are there hardware and software hooks available to integrate with a sensor POD and data links.

2. Now That we have the prototype ready. what is the level of commonality in terms of spare parts with ALH Dhruv and LCH . If majority parts are common then we can save expenses and give MSME's orders for delivery of parts.

Great article Colonel, but as a FYI, "strike three" has a negative connotation, as it means the batter in a baseball game has missed striking the ball the third time in succession, and so is out. Details at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikeout.

Notwithstanding all the criticism, some due and some frivolous, HAL has done remarkably well in delivering three decent rotary wing platforms viz. the ALH, LCH and now, the LUH.

The next thing that needs to be done on priority is to improve upon these platforms with the help of private industry, national or otherwise, and operationalize them first within the country, before thinking of exports.

Secondly, there are reports in the media about the PLA equipping infantry units especially in the Tibet Autonomous Region, with their anti-armour WZ-10s, which are reported to be quite sophisticated.

So, the LCH needs to be fast tracked, particularly the weapons integration and testing, in response to this threat. Also, the Helina missile needs to be junked if the DRDO is unable to deliver it as it is taking forever. In its place some other suitable missiles like say the Hellfire from our new American besties can be incorporated.

Yes, upgrading air defence network in forward areas is equally important. But China can rapidly deploy close to half a million troops along the LAC which would be infantry and armour. As the LCH fulfils anti armour, infantry and also air defence roles, its deployment has to be expedited.